The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Jacqui Rodgers
7 citations
The aim of this investigation was to extend our previous work and establish whether the findings reported previously of self reports of memory difficulties associated with ecstasy use can be replicated. A web-based methodology was adopted due to the significant advantages such techniques may confer when trying to reach a specialized population or address questions that people might be reluctant...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
David N. Harper
5 citations
Both acute and chronic exposure to 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is associated with impairments in a range of conditional discrimination tasks that reflect memory function, decision making and self-control [1-3]. However, the mechanism by which MDMA decreases performance in these tasks is not clear. One interpretation of such findings has been that overall stimulus control is...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
David N. Harper
5 citations
disruption to working memory function [1, 2]. This possibility was examined using a version of the 8-arm radial maze task with rats that is designed to separate working memory function from reference memory function [3]. In Experiment 1 the effects of MDMA were compared to the classic amnetic drug scopolamine (which has been shown to produce working memory deficits in the current radial arm...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
David N. Harper
4 citations
This study used the Drug Discrimination paradigm to assess the relative subjective experience of acutely administered 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and d-amphetamine (AMPH). In this paradigm rats are required to respond on one lever if they have been given a specific drug (AMPH for one group of rats or MDMA for another group) vs an alternate lever if they have been administered...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Vanessa Gwendoline Smithies
4 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘Ecstasy’) shares psychoactive effects with drugs that possess stimulant (e.g. amphetamine, the effects of which are primarily dopaminergic) and hallucinogenic properties (e.g. LSD, which has serotonergic effects) [1]. The majority of MDMA’s distinctive effects as well as its toxicity have been linked to its actions on serotonergic neurotransmission [2]....
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Paul Anderson
3 citations
Hyperthermia is a key clinical outcome from recreational use of MDMA and is the leading cause of MDMA related hospital admissions as well as being linked to enhanced neurotoxicity [1, 2]. Animal models of ischemia which also display hyperthermia have shown an inflammatory process mediated by microglia and the release of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 1(IL-1 ) play a role in...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Abdallah Salem
1 citation
Project Background The main MDMA-induced adverse effect is disruption of normal thermoregulation leading to life threatening hyperthermia which is exacerbated by high ambient temperature and linked to chronic neurotoxicity. Although the focus of the majority of research on MDMAinduced loss of thermoregulation has been on brain serotonergic and dopaminergic systems, results obtained from our...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Gillinder Bedi
1 citation
Ecstasy users report that the drug produces feelings of increased empathy and sociability [1]. Such ‘empathogenic’ effects are thought to motivate recreational use of ecstasy [2]. In addition, the rationale for the proposed use of MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy centers on these effects [3]. Controlled studies confirm that MDMA administration produces prosocial feelings in humans [e.g. 4],...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
John Brown
1 citation
A growing body of evidence suggests that regular ‘ecstasy’ (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) use causes lasting changes to central serotonergic functioning in humans, including in the occipital lobe. Brown, Edwards, et al. [1] proposed that MDMA-related serotonergic changes in the occipital lobe may reduce lateral inhibition between occipital neurons involved in low level visual...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Allison Matthews
1 citation
Remembering to do things in the future (prospective memory) and remembering things in our past (retrospective memory) are important everyday memory skills. Several studies suggest an association between use of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and impairments in prospective (remembering to remember) and retrospective memory (recollection of past events) [1, 2]. However, some research...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Amy K. O’Sullivan
1 citation
68 recreational Ecstasy/MDMA users were categorized into four subgroups: light versus heavy users (+20 occasions lifetime), subdivided into current and former users (usage within 6 months). Each unpaid volunteer completed a questionnaire about their personal experiences on Ecstasy/MDMA. The four questions here covered experiences the first and last times on Ecstasy. Positive effects were...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Jillian H. Broadbear
1 citation
are examples of interoceptive cues which enable experienced users to distinguish the effects of MDMA from those of other drugs. Serotonin neurotransmission positively modulates the release of oxytocin into plasma [2]. To test the hypothesis that oxytocin receptor activation contributes to the interoceptive cues of MDMA in male and female rats, two peptidic oxytocin receptor ligands, the agonist...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Esther Remmelink
Acute MDMA, even at low doses, increases social interaction in adult rats [1] while on the long-term its consumption produces a decrease in social interaction, an increase in anxiety and impaired object recognition memory [2, 3]. This study investigated whether MDMA has the same effects in adolescent rats. Additionally, we investigated whether the preference of adolescent rats for MDMA was...